Ankyra Sound There are times that walk from you like some passing afternoon

Too stunned to do much but stare, Raleska took another involuntary step back as the floodgates opened. She was not prepared for this level of emotional unrest; her entire life had been one of instability, and she lacked the stony core required to shoulder through rocky situations.

She glanced past Ephraim, utterly unthinking -- incapable even, of registering what he meant. Raleska might have been clever, but in that moment it was hard to tell. Her ears pressed to her skull, buried in the winter fur that wrapped around her ruff. She felt her own strength fading, as if being around Ephraim for too long (and being subjected to his unraveling composure) was sapping her own will. She bit her lower lip, still horrified of the lurking feeling of doom that roiled in her stomach as fitful as a dragon in restless sleep: "Who? Who was sick?" Ephraim's bent form in the shadows commanded most of her attention, but Raleska could not help but gaze past him and wonder...

but she dared not take that first step.